Remnants of the Monkey King
by Vikasa
Summary: His grandather's death at the hands of a man he'd trusted left Jin Mo-Ri emotionally beaten and ready to give up on it all. But being left with an orphan and somehow sent to another world left him wondering: What if it was a sign? What if..he could just start a new life and run from his old one?
1. Chapter 1

**So, in case you guys couldn't tell from the username, I'm a bit of a God of High School fanboy.**

 **...ok, I'm a big fan, but that's not the point.**

 **Imagine my surprise when I find out there are barely _any_ GOH Fanfics on this website, including both crossovers and regular Fanfics.**

 **It honestly left me a little sad to see that the series got so little love on this website, especially compared to other series here.** **.but then it hit me.**

 **Why don't _I_ just write a story?**

 **And so, here we are.**

 **Now, granted, I realize what a situation I'm putting myself into, since I'm already writing both Newcomer and Bloodline. And the answer I have to that problem...is...it's, uh...um..fuck it, well I don't really _have_ an answer, per se.**

 **Honestly, it's more just me doing my regular thing and not having a set schedule.**

 **Also, for those wondering "where are the Newcomer and Bloodline chapters?"**

 **I'm still working on them (almost done with Newcomers' chapter, actually)**

 **Anyways, enough with this part of the A/N!**

 **On with the story!!!**

* * *

Chapter 1: Arrival and A New Beginning

Pain.

Sadness.

Loss.

Betrayal.

The emotions rang loudly in his heart like a blaring siren, as he soared through the sky, cursing the man who'd screwed him over all the while.

Park Mu-Bong.

 _THAT BASTARD!!!_ Jin Mo-Ri roared mentally.

He'd lied to him.

He'd _betrayed_ him.

He'd _killed_...killed his grandfather.

"JUST YOU WAIT MU-BONG!!!" He bellowed, "I'M GOING TO CHEW YOU TO PIECES!!" He could feel the Dragon Armorsuit shifting around his body as he yelled, tears streaming down his face the entire time. Was it leaving him? Was it taking a different form?

He didn't care. He was _far_ to livid to even seriously consider such a thing.

And sad. And frustrated. And in pain.

But mostly livid.

Fire began to surround Jin's form at some point, due to his immense falling speed, and soon enough, he crashed, _hard_ , with the impact leaving a bright orange light that could be seen for miles.

His landing had left the house he crashed into little more than a few walls and surrounding rubble. There was smoke in the air, and he felt he could faintly hear something making noise repeatedly.

But..

" _AAAHHHH!!!_ "

He was still far too emotional to fully grasp it.

Luckily, the anger was somewhat overshadowed by the searing pain he'd felt on his head and — the cause, he figured most likely, being his diadem.

Jin's rage made it impossible for him to fully calm down at the moment, but the pain was enough to distract him from it a bit and leave him more aware of his surroundings. Unfortunately, nothing but bad news awaited.

He'd crashed somewhere where populated.

People were definitely dead, two corpses crushed under rubble.

And there were likely more, since — additionally — Yeoui was still a behemoth in both length and width.

 _No..nonono..NONONONONO!!!_

"CONTRACT!!"

He heard the very slight sound of it shrinking, but the decrease in size was practically unnoticeable.

"CONTRACT!!!"

His pleads were once again met with little results.

"CONTRACT, _PLEASE_!!!!"

His voice was starting to get hoarse, and the pain in his head _just wouldn't stop_. But he needed to keep going. To keep trying.

"CONTRACT!!! CONTRACT!!! CONTRACT!!! _CONTRACT_!!!!"

But his efforts were met with nothing.

 _It must be because of Park Mu-Bong's 'Holy Grail'_ Jin felt a brief shiver run down his spine at the thought of the National Treasure, _...I can't control anything!!_

As if his body wasn't recognizing the fact that his throat was crying for him to stop, Jin let out a blood-curdling yell, his armorsuit and diadem slowly leaving his being.

It all hurt so much.

 _Too_ much.

What the hell did he do to deserve this?

To have been lied to for so long? To have fought so hard to see the man who raised and taught him — who he saw and acknowledged as family — again, only to have his heart shredded to ribbons not long after he'd found him, as he saw him die before his eyes in an act of betrayal?

Why did he have to suffer so much...when all he wanted was to see his grandfather again?

 _...Let's.._ He began, his voice, even in his thoughts, weak and defeated, _..let's just disappear..like this._

As if the words were a trigger, his armorsuit left him the moment he mentally uttered them. And that was fine.

He didn't have any use for them anyway. Not when he'd decided to vanish. To give up on it all.

Everything felt so hopeless — so _empty_ and _vain_.

He was content with just fading away, so that was just what he would do...if not for the sudden tug he'd felt on the back of his pant leg.

 _..Huh..?_

Teary red eyes with black cross-shaped pupils directed their attention towards...a baby. A crying baby..with some rubble on her right leg, one bit of debris even piercing it.

Guilt crashed into his heart like a freight train, but showing any more outward emotional distress just wasn't possible for him.

 _This..this is my fault..._ He thought, Because _of me...this child...will have to walk on one leg for the rest of her life. She even lost her parents._

..and yet...here she was..

 _And yet..she's still trying to survive._ Her wails filled the air, a terrible feeling filling Jin's heart, the tears only streaming full force out of his eyes even more than before. _She's struggling to survive._

"Ah..." Words wouldn't — no, _couldn't_ leave Jin's mouth. Just a pained sound.

 _Stay alive, Mo-Ri. And..._ As his grandfather's words rang clearly in his mind, Jin could feel himself begin to shrink, while he still failed to form proper words, making the same sound over and over again.

Jin grasped his head as he shrunk further, a shade of blue replacing his former onyx black hair, until he became the same size as the purple-haired baby laying beside him, with short, blue hair.

 _Don't hate humans too much._

He took in his grandfather's words for a few moments, a thin line pursuing his lips, before he made up his mind, his eyes flickering with a nigh-unnoticeable flame.

 _I...I'm going to take care of her..to protect her_

Those had been his last thoughts before an odd sensation shot through his body, his mind giving way to unconsciousness before he could even process what had happened.

* * *

Jin Mo-Ri was confused.

Or, maybe that was putting it too lightly.

The combination of utter bafflement with the whirlwind of emotions he'd felt before — though said storm still lingered within him — had left him...feeling a way he wasn't entirely sure how to describe.

One moment, he'd been shrunken down, sitting next to the purple haired baby, surrender by rubble, flames, and distant screams.

The next? He was sitting in a forest, in the dead of the night...and the moon was broken.

Questions began to flood Jin's mind, a look of utter confusion plainly visible on his face.

 _Why's the moon broken?_

 _Why are we in a forest?_

 _...why do I feel kind of different?_

The last one was rather unnerving to Jin — though the other mysteries were honestly in whole other ballpark, _especially_ the broken moon. Something about him felt..off.

Like he was weaker.

Like his body wasn't really his.

He lifted his tiny hand up to his face, opening and closing it a few times to test the feeling. There were seemingly no problems, and he could move his hands perfectly fine..in a general sense, that is.

But the motions still felt the slightest bit awkward, in a way Jin had trouble finding an explanation for.

"What the—"

A moment of silence passed.

And another.

And another.

 _...did I just speak English?_

"...Did I—" His hand flew to his mouth.

He did.

Somehow...he knew English.

 _It's probably best I don't think too hard about that, for now at least._ He reasoned mentally. Otherwise, Jin figured, he'd have just spent the whole time a baffled mess and gotten nothing done.

Definitely not something he could do, when when he had himself and the ba—

"Wait, the baby!!" Jin exclaimed, his attention moving rapidly to where the baby was the last time he'd seen her.

Sure enough, she was laying down next to him, the only injury on her still being just the one leg. But her wails had ceased, and she seemed to be looking at him, squinting with her eyes still watery and her nose a bit runny.

"..she stopped crying?" Jin noted, a bit confused.

So many questions, and they just kept piling atop one another.

But they would have to wait. Especially considering that they seemed to have some unwanted company.

 _There's five of them, pretty big judging by the sound of their footsteps..wild animals?_ It made sense. They were in a forest after all, so of course it wouldn't have been strange to see them wandering about. Jin was anticipating, at worst, that they were bears.

But instead, he got yet _another_ head-scratcher.

 _...Huh?_ It was all his mind could come up with as he saw them come into proper lighting, provided by the moon, and...well, they sure as hell weren't normal.

They all had pitch black fur, and bony, white, armor-like plates on areas all around their bodies, including a mask with red carvings. Conveniently enough, combined with the dark surroundings, it did surprisingly well at emphasizing their glowing, red-orange eyes.

Their malicious intent was clear, Jin knew that much for certain. Though that did complicate things a bit..

 _I'm not sure if I can fight back against them. I don't even know how strong this body is.._ Jin grimaced, _And even if I did, my movements feel awkward. So...I..should...wait a minute._

Now that Jin paid a bit more attention to their own movements...well, there were none.

They'd stopped dead in their tracks, still growling at both him and the baby, eyes glowing menacingly as they clawed at the air with every few noises they made...but they took no steps closer to them.

Why wouldn't they approach? They obviously had the upper hand. As far as they could tell, Jin figured, it was a free meal for them — two unguarded children, no way to fight back or defend themselves...unless that wasn't true.

 _It's like they're scared to come closer..is it instincts?_ He wondered.

But what would they even be sensing from him that would alert them? His experience? But if that was the case, then through what? His eyes?

They were supposedly the windows to the soul, after all.

 _Maybe I've got scarier eyes than them?_ In wondered, the small attempt at humor lifting the edges of his mouth ever so slightly into an nigh unnoticeable smile.

Although that only brought up another question — did he still have his red eyes? Or had they reverted to their former black color?

He immediately mentally filed the question away into another part of his brain, along with the rest of them.

With a refocused mind, Jin's attention returned to the five beasts, still doing their best to appear menacing. But even just compared to the likes of the Executives — let alone _Satan_ — they were about as scary as a group of puppies.

"uu.."

Jin's attention immediately went to the sound behind him, a sound he'd recognized on the spot.

The baby.

 _Now she woke up?!_ He exclaimed internally. _It must've been them! They've been growling the entire time.._

The sound of something heavy hitting the dirt reached his ear. Jin's attention returned to the odd, bear-like black figures..only to find one of them had taken a step forward.

Jin mustered the best glare he could, though he doubted it looked incredibly menacing with his form being that of a literal child.

Another step was taken, by three of them instead of just the one.

A snarl began to grow on Jin's face..only to falter at a somewhat familiar sound. A _shing_ that seemed to ring throughout the night air, along with rapidly approaching footsteps.

 _Someone's coming?_

His question was almost immediately answered, a figure landing in front of Jin and the baby, crouched down with a greatsword in their left hand. As if the fact that Jin was a child and sitting behind the mystery sword wielded hadn't made it difficult enough to identify their gender, the black trench coat they wore only made it even more so.

Though whoever they were did have stark white hair tied up into a ponytail...not enough to determine their gender for sure, but at least it was something.

"Geez," The stranger finally spoke, their voice giving away that they were in fact female, "I try to take _one_ leisurely walk through the woods, and this is what I get. 5 Ursa's threatening a pair of babies." A sigh escaped her lips as she stood up, her grip on the greatsword tightening, "Well, you kids go ahead and sit back. I'll take care of these guys before you can even say—"

"Okay."

The woman flinched, and seemed to almost turn her head back towards them before stopping herself and refocusing her attention on the black creatures.

Though Jin had been left tilting his head a bit curiously. Had he said something wrong?

"...I'm not even...you know what, no, I'm probably just hallucinating. Definitely didn't hear that." He wasn't entirely sure if she was speaking to him or herself, but it didn't really matter. Not when they were safe.

When _she_ was safe.

 _...come to think of it, I wonder what her name is._ His eyes traveled back to the baby, who'd still been making small, near silent noises, _Then again, there's no way for me to know for sure, so there's no point in thinking to hard about it._

...or was there?

Part of Jin almost believed he wasn't even on Earth anymore — the main reason being the broken moon, hanging in the night sky. It had thrown Jin for a loop at first, but the more he thought about it, the more he began to think that maybe..he was wrong.

His battle with Satan was massive, after all. Maybe the moon had suffered as collateral damage?

If that was the case, and he really was still on Earth...then he would need a new identity.

The change in form was already a headstart, but he still needed to think of a new name for himself. Something to temporarily...or maybe even permanently go by.

And the same went for the baby, but for less secretive reasons.

 _This...maybe I should start a new life.._ He thought, _I could start over..I wouldn't have to suffer anymore. I could live a new life..but what would my goal be?_

To perfect Renewal Taekwondo?

...no..somehow, he couldn't bring himself to pick that. Just thinking about it made him think of his grandfather, and his heart ached enough already.

To get revenge against Mu-Bong?

 _No, I want to start over._

But what then?

"uu..uu..."

It was like a lightbulb lit in his mind.

 _..yeah...right.._ A smile almost made itself known on Jin's face..almost, _My new goal...I'll grow up alongside her and keep her safe..as her brother._

A goal he wholeheartedly felt he could accept...but that still left the 'name' issue unsolved.

He couldn't exactly call himself Jin Mo-Ri, not when it was possible he was still on Earth. But what then..?

"Okay.."

His attention returned to the woman for the first time since she'd arrived, crouched again, but now facing him. Her soft violet eyes were seemingly trying to see through his head, one of her brows twitching every few seconds.

But what had happened to those weird creatures? He couldn't see any corpses, and he didn't smell any corpses either.

Hell, the only thing he did smell was a faint scent of ash. But that was probably nothing.

"I swear, if I'm going crazy.." She muttered before sighing, "...just so we're clear..you said 'Okay'..right?"

"Yeah." He said simply with a nod. Her eyes widened, though she shook her head before continuing.

"...and you aren't a hallucination?" Jin rose a brow in confusion.

"No, why would I be?"

"..okay, maybe that wasn't the best choice of words..the fact that you understand what 'hallucination' means is just leaving me more confused.." She pinched the bridge of her nose and shut her eye, letting out a nasal sigh, "Well, I'm either crazy, drunk, or dead...might as well go with the flow."

 _She's...I'm not sure how to describe her_.

"So...you have a name, kid?"

 _That's what I'm trying to figure out,_ Mo-Ri thought, _...new name..new family..._

"...Mo-Ri."

"Hm?"

 _New beginnings._

"My name...it's Dan Mo-Ri."

* * *

 **A/N: Welp, I'm doing this now.**

 **So...I'm writing another fanfic...which makes three I'm writing...at the same time.**

 **Oof, my poor soul.**

 **This one's..shorter than some might like, but I wasn't really sure what else to put.**

 **I didn't really want to write more than necessary (because then you'd be reading pointless blocks of text), but I also wanted to end it with Mo-Ri declaring his new identity as Dan Mo-Ri.**

 **So it kinda just..ended up like this.**

 **So yeah..peace out!**


	2. Chapter 2

The walk back, for the time being, had been mostly silent.

It did allow for Mo-Ri to figure out that he must not have been on his own world anymore, though. Otherwise, the air of the forests would most _certainly_ not be so serene, considering the sheer magnitude of Ragnarok. That, and the woman — who'd later introduced herself as Viola — not only hadn't brought the war up once, but also acted in a manor that implied she had no idea a war was even going on.

From the moment she'd agreed to take the two of them to a nearby village, to current moment of her walking through the forest with the him and the baby on her back, no mention of a war, or any cataclysmic event came up once. In fact, her biggest concern had seemingly been the moral dilemma she claimed she'd have been in, saying that even if she had been crazy, drunk, or hallucinating, it would've 'been bad on my conciense if I just left two kids in the middle of the woods'.

All in all, she didn't seem all that bad, he supposed.

Though it didn't stop the cynical thoughts of doubt, questioning her intentions, slipping into the back of his mind, much to Jin's displeasure.

Or rather, _Dan's_.

 _That's going to take some getting used to.._ He sighed internally.

He was fully intent on living a new life, but he supposed he should've figured his old one would be hard to leave behind in some aspects.

His friends, for example.

 _Dae-Wi..Mi-Ra..Il-Pyo..how're they all doing..?_ He couldn't help but wonder.

He knew they wouldn't be able to take on the Executives — at least, not in the state he last saw them in. But he also knew them well enough to be certain that they would most definitely hold a grudge. He was positive they were hungry for payback, but they wouldn't get it immediately. It would take time, that was for sure. But their methods for doing so, however, he wasn't so sure of.

 _Dae-Wi and Mi-Ra will probably want to go for it the old-fashioned way. I'm not too sure about Il-Pyo and Seung-Cheul though..._ Mo-Ri's brows furrowed.

In the back of his mind, he felt something telling him that he should be trying to join them.

He ignored it, despite how awful said action made him feel.

"..Hey."

His face relaxed and adopted a surprised expression at the sound of Viola's voice. His eyes met her one violet orb as she glanced at him over her shoulder.

"You..how old are you exactly?"

 _Ah._

He hadn't really thought it about, but he supposed he would have to come up with an actual fake date of birth for himself, along with a..technically not very fake age.

It would be how old he was physically, after all.

 _I'd say I'm only a year older than the baby at most, so.._

"I'm..I think I'm 2?" That was the normal age for babies to speak as well as he did, right?

..right?

"...this is _such_ a weird day.." was all she muttered in response, briefly shaking her head with an exhale as she turned her attention forward, "and what about her?" She nodded her head to the baby on her right, who'd been sleeping soundly, an adorable blush on her cheeks and bandages wrapped around her leg.

"She's my sister." He replied without hesitation, "She's...also 2."

"That so.." She commented absentmindedly, "...hey, I've been wondering for a while now, but.."

"Hm?"

"Aren't you kinda heavy for a 2-year-old?"

His face showed no reaction aside from the ever so slight widening of his eyes, but his heart had skipped a beat, sweat threatening to run down his forehead.

 _I thought I made Yeoui light enough!_ He hadn't been sure exactly how heavy he should have made the bit of his legendary weapon in his ear. Judging from the way she carried her sword — which was, to put it simply, quite huge. Almost 10 feet long, seemingly made of pure, somewhat rusted steel — with complete ease, he figured he had the right idea of how heavy to make it.

Or rather, how light to make it, to be point where it wouldn't cause any sort of problem, or create any suspicions.

Apparently he was wrong.

 _I can't just go ahead and make it lighter now, that'd just make her more suspicious._

For now..he'd have to think of a convincing lie.

"...I eat a lot."

Mo-Ri was met with dead silence, Viola's only reaction being to once again glance at him over her shoulder, but this time raising a brow at him.

He held back the urge to gulp, though he couldn't help but blink a few times before she finally looked ahead once more.

"I'm..." She finally spoke, "..just gonna stop asking questions." She'd sounded tired. Not the kind where one was left panting for air, but moreso the mentally-stressed out kind. Mo-Ri couldn't help but feel kind of bad for Viola as he saw her in such a state.

 _Oh, thank goodness._

It didn't stop the internal sigh of relief though. After all, questions now meant more time to come up with a convincing lie for later.

He wasn't even certain where to start when it came to coming up with a lie, truthfully. Thankfully, since they were both extremely young, there was no need to create a lengthy backstory. Still, he needed to think of _something_.

After all, he knew for a fact that he couldn't play the 'I'm not smart enough to know, since I'm a baby' card, not with Viola as a witness who could speak out against that.

But what could he say? That he and the baby had somehow appeared in the forest? On their own? Like they'd believe that.

But what then? Claim that they were with their parents, but that the latter had both been eaten by those weird black animal things?

 _...wait, that actually might work._

The idea had been mentally rambled sarcastically...but now that he thought about it, such a story didn't sound too unbelievable. True, it was questionable what in the world a family had been doing in the middle of the forest with two of their children — a pair of 2-year-olds.

But such wasn't a question for him to answer.

He could just respond with 'I don't know', or 'I can't remember'.

He was a baby, after all. A smart baby, granted, but a baby nonetheless, who'd just gone through a traumatic experience. The last part was truer than Mo-Ri wished it to be, though.

 _No._ He shook his head lightly before turning his attention slightly downward, his light blue bangs shielding his eyes, _First, I need to make sure the baby and I find a home._

 _Not until then.._

A slight watery feeling began to sneak up on his eyes, but he forced the emotion back, doing his best to let it be lost in the sleep he attempted to force upon himself as he gently closed his eyes.

 _I can't let myself mourn until then..._

* * *

After around 20 minutes or so of walking, neither he nor Viola uttered even a sound, a sound had caught Mo-Ri's ear, prompting to blue haired boy's eyelids to shut just a little tighter before opening ever so slightly. He saw a tiny, yellowish ball of light in the distance, thin vertical rays extending above and below it due to his squinting.

Mo-Ri unknowingly let a soft exhale leave his body at the sight.

 _Finally.._ was all he mentally uttered, still feeling just a bit drowsy.

It hadn't taken long for them to finally arrive at the source of the light, which turned out to be the very village Viola had mentioned. Although, unfortunately for Mo-Ri, his drowsiness affected him more than he'd thought it would, the boy being barely able to keep his eyes open around a minute or so after they'd gotten to the village.

Oh, the burdens of having the body of a child.

Though a stronger feeling of drowsiness was the _least_ of his troubles..

"Oh, he's _adorable_!!! Wook at those chubby cheeks!!"

 _What have I done to deserve this?_ Mo-Ri thought with tears on the inside as his cheeks were, though gently, pinched by a girl in her teens.

She was a bit pale and had long black hair that reached her waist and calming blue eyes, emphasized a bit by the bandana tied around her neck that was a lighter shade of blue by just a bit. In addition to that, she wore a black dress shirt, blue pants, and dark green high top shoes.

"Tch, 'adorable', my—"

"Vi, what did I tell you about cursing when kids are around?"

" _H_ _e_ doesn't count!"

"For reasons you've already told me, I'm well aware..." The girl seemed to shudder a bit, "I..it's just...dear sister, I can't believe you'd be so discriminatory towards the verbally gifted! For shame, you _scoundrel_!" Mo-Ri held a blank gaze as he observed the.. _odd_ girl talk to Viola, who'd let out a groan at her sister's response.

She spoke with dramatic exhaggeration, every word dripping with sarcasm as she struck a pose with equal theatrical extravagance, the back of her hand placed gently on her forehead as she looked away from Viola. Hell, she'd even managed to shed a fake tear.

"I'm telling you Carrie, he talks!" Viola had been insisting for the past 10 minutes or so, but had likewise been met with a lack of belief every time on Carrie's part.

"And I'm telling _you_ that the only thing this little tyke is guilty of is being too gosh darn _cuuute_!!" To Mo-Ri's relief, the pinching ceased for a brief moment, only for his dismay to return as she then gently pushed into his cheeks with her index fingers. Her eyes seemed like they'd been glittering with joy, but Mo-Ri was practically begging for it to be over.

Internally, of course. He'd never let his blank, innocent gaze slip, fearing it would only make Carrie gain more interest in him.

"Oh for—" Viola went silent for a moment, an exasperated sigh soon leaving her lips, "whatever."

Carrie shrugged off Viola's words, instead focusing on the chubby cheeks of little Mo-Ri — who'd been silently hoping that something, _anything_ , would get her to stop.

"Moving on from," Viola paused, " _that_..how's the other one doing?"

Neither had noticed Mo-Ri flinch slightly as his breath was caught in his throat. Instead, Carrie had shifted her attention back to her sister, a serious look in her eyes, mixed with sadness.

"..she's still resting..thankfully, we managed to avoid any possibility that her injuries could become fatal.." Carrie gently inhaled a bit before closing her mouth tightly, her lips a slightly wavy line, "...but—"

"Don't."

The sudden shift in Viola's tone had surprised Mo-Ri a bit, and the same seemed to be true for Carrie as well. The only difference was that she'd let it show on her face.

"Don't blame yourself for something you couldn't change." Viola said as she crossed her arms with a soft sigh, her tone becoming a bit gentler, "The fact of the matter is that she was already like this by the time I found them. There was nothing you could do.."

"But.." Mo-Ri could hear the bits of pain slipping through her voice. At that point, she had already shed a tear or two, hands that had already left Mo-Ri's face being weakly clenched into fists.

Mo-Ri knew from the moment he'd seen the rubble piercing the baby's leg that she wouldn't be able to walk on it again. Knowing that fact prior to hearing it from others left him more emotionally prepared.

And honestly? Him having made his resolve to grow alongside and protect her as her brother left him needing that more than he'd thought he would.

But something about seeing the poor girl beat herself up over something he knew — that everyone inside the room knew — she couldn't fix..it left his heart aching a bit.

"...It isn't your fault."

Carrie and Viola both froze, neither moving for what felt like an hour to Mo-Ri.

 _Was...was that the wrong decision?_ He thought awkwardly. He figured the best way to help the girl was to distract her from the issue..even at the cost of his personal space..but he figured it would be worth it. So long as she wasn't sad.

Though the way her head slowly turned towards him in an almost robotic manner left him wondering otherwise.

"..." She stared at him in complete silence, eyes wide as saucers, and her lips a thin line. Mo-Ri felt a bead of sweat run down the side of his forehead as he leaned back ever so slightly out of reflex. The awkward air between them persisted for a few moments, until a snort broke the silence.

They both looked at Viola.

"I may be the older one..but I'm not above this, _sooo_..I told you so." Her grin couldn't have been more smug.

"I—I...how..but you're a _baby_!"

"A _heavy_ baby, too." Viola commented, a hand reaching up and gently mad singing her shoulder, "Felt like I was carrying at least four damn anvils on my back."

 _That was how heavy I was?!_ Mo-Ri noted with both surprise and alarm. He would _definitely_ need to learn to control Yeoui's weight.

Carrie was too surprised to call her sister out on the fact that she'd cursed, blue eyes back on Mo-Ri in a flash.

"...could you please stop staring?" Mo-Ri asked. Being gawked at so much was starting to feel uncomfortable.

"O-oh!" She did her best to stop, but her eyes continued to flicker back toward him every few seconds before moving away.

Mo-Ri couldn't blame her. Even in his own world, he knew very well that this was _far_ from normal.

 _...actually, come to think of it.._ A certain portal-opening woman popped into his mind _..I'm pretty sure the last time I saw her use her Borrowed Power, she got younger too._

'Younger' was admittedly quite the understatement. Oong-Nyuh had gone from a young adult to a child mere moments after granting his wish, following the battle against Jae-Kal way back during the GoH tournament.

He figured that his friends, without a doubt, had to have used her power more while he was busy trying to reach them after the whole Oraeguk situation. Hence, he figured she likely would have shrunken to around his current physical age at some point, since such was the effect using her power had on her. As a result of said conclusion, he couldn't help but think about it, considering his current situation.

 _I wonder if it was like this for her too?_ He thought.

Then again, Mo-Ri had a feeling that the reactions people had and would have to her were largely different than what he'd been experiencing. And for good reason, too.

She somehow managed to maintain at least a somewhat threatening aura around her, even in the form she had the last time he'd seen her. Was it her face? The way it sort of looked like a constant scowl?

If that was the case, then it would have made sense as to why nobody was casting Mo-Ri any fearful glances.

 _Stupid baby cheeks,_ He cursed with a pout.

"I-I'm sorry.." Carrie began, "It's just...you're —"

"A talking baby. Yeah, I think he knows." Carrie sent her sister a weak glare, the latter ignoring her, "More importantly," She directed her attention to Mo-Ri, "why exactly _can_ you talk?"

 _Uh-oh._

He resisted the urge to flinch at the question. But, thankfully, he'd been prepared.

"I can't remember."

The answer left him quickly — maybe a bit too quickly, judging by the way Viola's eyes narrowed ever so slightly. The look in her eyes seemed to say one thing:

She didn't believe him. Not in the slightest.

"..I guess that makes sense." said Carrie, "You just went through a pretty traumatic experience. Anyone's memory would be poor at a time like this."

Viola remained silent, but Mo-Ri had a feeling that she remained skeptical. And that was fine, so long as she couldn't prove anything.

 _My scars might be a problem, in that case_ , Mo-Ri's eyes wandered over to his arm, calmly observing the couple of cross-shaped scars on them, _I'm surprised they haven't asked me about them at all._

But, then again, he figured they might have just been treading carefully to avoid the possibility of bringing up painful memories in Mo-Ri.

..at least, he figured such were Carrie's intentions. Viola was still giving him glances rich with suspicion, but he had to do his best to ignore those.

But really, they were rather wrong in that aspect.

 _I don't even remember how I got some of these scars_. Mo-Ri noted blankly, eyes moving up to the scar on his right shoulder, _I know I got this one back on Oraeguk, and I kind of have an idea of where I got some of these other ones, but that's about it._

Did it bother him, not knowing where he'd gotten all of his battle scars?

..not as much as he thought it would.

Trying to leave the old him behind might have had something to do with it, but whether or not that was for certain was Mo-Ri didn't want to dwell on.

"...so, uh.."

Carrie's somewhat nervous tone brought him out of his thoughts, abruptly reminding him that he was, in fact, not alone in the room — meaning they'd likely watched in awkward silence as Mo-Ri silently observed the multitude of scars he'd possessed.

"..we should get you settled into a room." She concluded with a light smile.

Mo-Ri nodded, eyes briefly flickering over to his left, just to see if Viola was still giving him any looks, only to find that she was nowhere in the room.

 _She left?_ He noted curiously.

"Oh, Viola actually left just a second ago." She paused, her eyes moving to something behind Mo-Ri, "..I should probably close that, now that I think about it." Carrie finished with a sigh as she got up and walked over to something behind Mo-Ri. By the time he'd turned around, the sound of it closing had already reaching his ears, though that didn't stop the thought from going through his mind as Carrie secured the lock on it.

 _She...left through a window?_ He noted with a sweatdrop.

The lesson learned?

That Viola was a bit.. _odder_ , than he'd thought.

Though further thoughts would have to wait, the sound of the door bursting open gaining both Mo-Ri's and Carrie's attention.

A girl, seemingly around Carrie's age, with short, wavy peach hair that reached her shoulders and lively bronze eyes, entered the room panting lightly, a bit of sweat on her forehead. She wore a sleeveless lavender bomber jacket and a black t-shirt underneath, along with a pair of dark purple jeans and black boots.

"...Carrie.." She finally spoke, "...we need..to talk.. _now_."

Mo-Ri just barely stopped himself from raising a brow, but Carrie didn't hesitate to furrow both of hers in confusion.

"Peach—"

"P-Money!" The girl quickly corrected, though the response seemed rather automatic.

Carrie stopped and said nothing at first, before shaking her head with a sigh, her attention returning to Peach once she stopped, "...what's—"

"Actually," Peach cut her off, "..can we maybe talk..somewhere else?"

Carrie paused for a moment before shaking her head.

"It's fine, we can talk here." A smirk made its way onto her face, "Or are you scared that little Mo-Ri here'll tattle on you?"

"This is serious!" Peach implored, "..but fine. We can talk here."

Another moment of silence passed.

"..Well..?" Carrie finally asked.

"It's...it's about the other baby."

The room fell silent once more, and Mo-Ri, for the first time, had failed to fully keep up the act, flinching at Peach's words. Luckily for him, it didn't seem she'd noticed, bronze eyes locked on Carrie's serene blue, both of which were slightly widened with surprise before returning to normal mere moments after.

Though Mo-Ri could still make out an ever-so-slight shiver of her form.

"...is she okay?" She asked, her voice rich with concern, and laced with bits of fear.

"I..I'm not sure." Peach said, "..really, that's what I came to talk to you about.." Peach ran a hand through her hair with an exhale, "I...I used my Semblance on her."

And like that, Mo-Ri was caught completely off-guard.

 _A 'Semblance'? What's that? Is it like a Borrowed Power?_

If it was, then he could only hope that she hadn't somehow hurt the baby. Though he had a feeling that wasn't the case.

It didn't stop the fear from creeping inside him, though.

"...huh?" was all Carrie said at first, sounding more confused than actually afraid, "wha..I...why would you use your Semblance on a _baby_?" She made it sound as if it were the dumbest thing in the world. And judging by Peach's eyeroll, she didn't seem to appreciate the her tone.

"Look, it was an accident, okay?!" Peach huffed, "I went in there to check on her, just to see if she was doing alright. But then, all of a sudden, I felt... _something_ , and my Semblance just, sort of _..turned on_." Peach quickly shook her head, "But that isn't what's important that I needed to tell you."

".. _okay_...then what is it?"

"..I...she.." The words seemed to struggle on Peach's lips for some moments before she finally let out a sigh, "...it wasn't there."

Mo-Ri tilted his head to the side, feeling more lost than ever.

What wasn't there? What did the baby not have? It wasn't another body part, the only injury she'd sustained had been the one to her left leg. But in that case, what did she mean?

"...You're joking."

The way Carrie's voice quivered had Mo-Ri turning his head to her faster than...well, faster than any other baby should have been able to do so. Fortunately, Peach didn't seem to notice that either.

"...Peach — no, P-Money — no —" Carrie gave up on picking a name, settling for a groan instead, "..please tell me you're joking."

She wasn't, if the serious, worried look in her eyes was any indication.

"I'm not.." Peach said.

"...That baby...she doesn't have an Aura."

The silence in the room was deafening, but it only left Mo-Ri _even more baffled_.

 _...Aura?_

"I.." Carrie began, "..no, that's...come on. Obviously you just didn't see it because it wasn't unlocked, _for obvious reasons_."

"..Carrie, you and I both know that's not how my Semblance works." Carrie's silence in response seemed to be proof that it was true. It only lasted for a few seconds, as she pinched the bridge of her nose lightly before sighing.

"..Fine." She relented, "But in that case, what're you trying to say? That she's some kind of Grimm?" She asked, her voice rich with sarcasm.

 _I have too many questions._ Mo-Ri thought. He'd managed to maintain his poker face well enough, but the sudden dumps of new information in waves left him feeling like his eyes were swirling.

"Bite me." was Peach's initial, blunt response, before she finally let herself lean against the walls of the room, arms crossed, "..Look, I'm not saying she's a Grimm, also for 'obvious reasons'." Her use of air quotes seemed to make Carrie a bit irritated, if the slight twitch of her eyebrow was evidence to go by, "I'm just saying...she isn't normal."

"..we're still helping her." Carrie declared with no emotional rise in her voice, though her tone was stern.

Peach rolled her eyes, "Well, _obviously_..I just figured I should just let you know." She finished with a smile. It only took a moment for Carrie's serious look to fade away, a smile mirroring Peach's taking its place.

Mo-Ri couldn't help but mentally sigh in relief.

Granted, he still had a _metric ton_ of questions...but they could wait for now. All that mattered was that he and the baby finally managed to find a place to stay, with good pe—

 _"It's now the 'Age of Humans'."_

...seemingly good people.

But it was something, and that was plenty for him, for the time being.

* * *

 **'Ello readers, ya boi's back with the second chapter.**

 **Sorry this one's short, I just wanted to save some stuff for the next chapter, that's all.**

 **For those who're wondering whether or not it is, I'll just flat out say it: Yes, the Peach in this chapter is, in fact, the still unseen canon character of Professor Peach. This is just my take on her. Plus, it should set up when exactly Mo-Ri and the baby are in RWBY.**

 **adislt : It'd be spoilers to say anything about that.**

 **BigBlimpin : I will (and it _absolutely_ is).**

 **Ninjagonecrazy : Thank you! And I will (as for the whole 'mentioning his friends' thing...well, this chapter addresses that, so yay.)**

 ** _Deuces_**


	3. Chapter 3

_"Carrie..is there something you're not telling me?"_

Carrie failed to resist the urge to sigh, lightly massaging the bridge of her nose as she heard the question leave her sister's lips on the other end of the call.

Since Peach's reveal of the female baby's...state, the two of them had decided it was about time they left Dan in a room of his own for him to rest.

That is, after Peach managed to calm herself down from only noticing moments after she'd finished speaking that Dan was practically decorated with scars — old ones, at that. It was a disturbing sight to see, becoming surreal when Carrie had seen him calmly looking at them with his ever-present blank gaze.

Against her curiosity — and maybe better judgement — Carrie had chosen not to ask where or how he'd gotten them. Though the idea — no, the _reality_ of a 2-year old having scars that almost seemed older than _her_ left Carrie both mind-boggled and frightened.

"..No, sis." She finally replied, "There's nothing."

She knew Viola would likely suspect she was lying. Her older sister's instincts were simply that good. But, then again, her sister was a Huntress — one from Beacon Academy, no less. Home to the well-known Team STRQ, and, more importantly, its headmaster, Professor Ozpin.

A man who Carrie had a feeling she would _never_ fully trust.

Hell, she didn't even somewhat trust him.

The guy felt..off, in some ways. Not many, but enough in the ways he did for it to count.

Letting any information on an Auraless baby and..well, whatever Dan was, reach Ozpin wasn't an option. So, she decided that she'd need to make sure he never found out about them. Even if it meant lying to her sister.

She could only hope that when Viola did put the pieces together, she'd understand her intentions and help her.

 _"...Alright."_ Viola finally responded, _"I'll be in Vale in around 3 hours, and at Beacon in just a little less. I won't be able to see you until summer vacation."_ Carrie easily picked up the hints of worry in her voice.

"Sis, relax, I'll be okay. In fact, everyone at the village will be." She finished with a small laugh, "Did you already forget that P-Mo—" A beat, ".. _Peach_ is here?"

 _"..You almost called her by the nickname, didn't you?"_ She could practically see her sister's smug grin right in front of her.

"Not important!" She exclaimed, before exahling, "Look, you know just as well as I do that she knows her way around a fight."

And know she did. The girl was terrifying when she wanted to be.

Carrie'd remembered when she'd once gone to Beacon to visit her sister. Lucky for her, Ozpin was somewhat lenient and she'd been allowed to watch the sparring matches between students among the rest of them in the stands.

Peach had been eventually called to fight and Clay Elletaker — a talented second year who even gave Raven Branwen, a third year student and the second best member of Team STRQ, a run for her money — was to be her opponent.

Apparently, something had gone on between Peach and Clay prior to the fight, since by the time they were both in the arena, the professor in charge of the sparring class had ask Peach if she needed a minute to cool her head. She'd said she was fine in, as far as Carrie could remember, the sweetest voice she'd heard.

Long story short, she'd beaten Clay to a pulp in under a minute and had been punished with Out-of-School Suspension. Though, the punishment was rather illogical, considering the fact that Spring Break hadn't even been two days away at that point, which led to her deciding to come with Carrie and Viola to their home village in Mistral, figuring that she might as well make the most of her 'punishment'.

Carrie doubted she was expecting a situation like _this_ , though.

 _"..fair enough."_ Her sister knew better to argue with her on Peach's skill in battle. She'd taken a few losses from Peach herself, after all, _"Doesn't mean I feel comfortable with you around him though."_

"..Viola, he's just a baby—"

 _"A_ talking _baby."_ She interrupted, _"who's capable of keeping a damn good poker face and is loaded with scars that are somehow older than he is. You need to keep an eye on him."_

"I—" Carrie paused for moment before letting out a brief groan, "never mind." She said with a sigh, "..look, we'll be fine, sis. You just worry about Beacon stuff..okay?"

Viola said nothing at first, though it wasn't long before Carrie heard a reluctant grumble of agreement from her sister.

"Good."

 _"..Love you."_

Carrie couldn't help but smile. Instead of her grin, she could now easily see Viola's blush in her mind.

"Love you too, sis." She said with a chuckle, a beep from her Scroll following her words soon after she'd said them.

Carrie slid her Scroll into her pocket, lightly patting it a couple times once the device was inside. Carrie let her shoulders droop a bit as a sigh left her lips, a hand reaching to the back of her head, behind her onyx hair, just to let it gently run down to the base of her neck.

 _Vacation, my ass._ She thought with a light chuckle, no negative emotion carried within it. After all, even if it wasn't exactly the peaceful visit home she'd imagined, she was spending it helping people. And that, to her, was time just as well spent.

Even if the people currently in her care left her with a headache from trying to fully wrap her head around their conditions.

There was the baby girl, Dan's sister, and the one, apparently, incapable of possessing Aura. Though it wasn't as if she didn't have a soul. According to Peach, there was _something_ inside her that very closely resembled a soul. It was just..different, in a way neither of them understood. But considering that Peach later told her that the feeling she'd been hit with suddenly was a rush of shivers down her spine, Carrie had a bad feeling about it.

And then, there was Dan Mo-Ri — the physically scarred, talking 2-year old, who always seemed to have a blank look on his face. Whether that was a mask or not, Carrie couldn't really tell, but the only thing that edged her in believing it was the former was the fact that her sister had said so.

She always was better at reading people than her. But, Carrie figured, that was likely a result of her training, as well as her experience. Though talent probably factored somewhere in there too.

Regardless, the two in her care were.. _odd_ cases, to say the very least.

"Ms. Carrie?"

She turned back and looked down, her eyes meeting Dan's, his face almost the same as yesterday, if not for his slightly furrowed brows.

Since then, the boy had been changed into a different set of clothes provided by the village — a pale lavender, cotton t-shirt, dark blue shorts, and a pair of boots which almost seemed to be just a little too big for him. Though, judging by the way the laces were tied all the way around his ankles, they wouldn't be coming off so easily.

"Oh, Dan." She smiled lightly, though the desire to make bigger chips in the wall that was the boy's poker face was starting to grow in her, "..those clothes suit you."

The slight twitch of his eyebrow left her having to stop her smile from widening into a grin. Though said facial expression left her when she saw the concerned look in his eyes as he briefly stared at the grass beneath him before raising his head to meet her own her gaze.

"I...can I see my sister?"

Carrie's eyes widened with surprise for a moment before returning to normal, a smile once again gracing her features.

Of _course_ he was worried about his sister. As odd of a case as he was, that didn't change the fact that Dan and the baby were siblings. And Carrie knew bonds like those were stronger than anything.

"..Yeah." She finally responded, "She should be awake by now, and.." A light chuckle left her, "I think it's about time she saw her brother again."

His eyes seemed to shine at the statement, and her chest began to warm. If she hadn't been certain before, she was now.

Special or not, they were just children. Ones that needed to be protected — a job Carrie was more than willing to take up.

* * *

Mo-Ri was nervous.

Or, maybe that wasn't exactly the right word.

Granted, he was anxious to see the baby, but something felt... _off_.

It'd reached him the moment he set foot in the cabin where the baby was — an eerie, yet disturbingly familiar presence touching his senses. Though, just as quickly as it'd hit him, it vanished.

The nigh-millisecond experience was definitely a shock to the senses though, like being hit with blizzard dead in the face. Thankfully, years — more like centuries, really, but that wasn't the point — of experience meant he could hide his reaction.

"Dan."

Carrie's voice snapped him out of his dazed state, the de-aged boy briefly shaking his head before looking up at her.

"I'm ok." He reassured with a small smile. Carrie seemed hesitant to buy it, giving him a somewhat worried look. Fortunately for Mo-Ri, considering the fact that her attention was focused on him, she didn't seem to have sensed what he had. That, at least, rose his chances of being able to convince her, "Really."

The concerned shine in her eyes persisted for a few moments before some of it left with a blink. A tinge of relief was felt by the de-aged boy as his eyes softened, only for them to widen with surprise as Carrie offered her hand.

"I—"

"Please."

Mo-Ri considered saying no, but the look in her eyes and the firmness of her voice left him thinking that he wasn't sure he could refuse. Hell, he didn't even know if she would _let_ him refuse.

Childishly pouting, Mo-Ri gently gripped her hand, ignoring her smile as he mentally cursed his shrunken form. He still accepted his state, of course, but that didn't mean he couldn't admit being a toddler was starting to suck.

Nevertheless, they silently continued hand-in-hand until finally reaching a door marked "Nursery". He felt Carrie's grip tighten just a smidge.

"Well.." She began, "We're here." An exhale left her, Mo-Ri, hoping he could finally let go of her hand, testing the waters by loosening his grip and slowly pulling his hand away. When she made no attempt to stop him, he silently brought it back to his side.

He both wanted, and had to, lest she see the slight flinch of his hand.

He'd sensed it again, and it felt far closer than before. Mo-Ri was lucky that it wasn't nearly as intense as the last time though.

"What the.."

It was a mumble, but he managed to hear it all the same. Thankfully, it didn't seem like Carrie was afraid, judging by her tone. If anything, she'd just sounded weirded out by whatever it was they'd felt. Although, the more Mo-Ri thought about it, the more a thought swam around in his mind.

It felt..familiar.

It shouldn't have been possible, him being in another world and all, but his instincts were telling him otherwise. But how? Nobody here aside from the baby were from his world, so what could it have been?

 _...wait a second,_ His eyes widened, _..is the baby a—_

"Well?" Carrie asked, her hand hovering over the door knob, "Ready to see her?"

 _I.._

He nodded.

 _I need to make sure._

With a nod of her own, Carrie slowly turned the knob and gently opened the door, taking a peek inside before looking back at Mo-Ri, moving a finger over lips. He nodded again in understanding before they both quietly entered the room.

Mo-Ri was rather surprised by a sudden change in the floor, looking down and realizing that he'd now stood on white carpet instead of the cabin's wooden floors. He was even more taken aback when he looked up and saw the rest of the room.

Gone were the wooden surfaces of the cabin, replaced with sky blue walls and a yellow ceiling, neither of which being made from wood. The lights were off, though some natural lighting made its way through the almost transparent white curtains of the room's one window. And it just so happened that the bits of sunlight peeking into the room reached the pale lavender crib at its center.

And then he'd felt it again. Only this time, it finally hit him.

 _It's..it's Borrowed Power!_ He recognized, _But who is it exactly?_

How was she doing this? She was just a baby, and one had to make a contract with a god if they wanted to borrow power from them, if he'd remembered correctly, so how was this possible?

 _Does it have something to do with the Taboo being removed?_

Maybe, just maybe, but even _then_ it was strange. How had she borrowed power from a god while on their home world? Or did they choose to leave and aid her here?

"Dan?"

Her voice rang softly, Carrie having already reached the baby's crib, concern reflected in her blue orbs as she watched him. But why wasn't _he_ there? A quick look down revealed to him the fact that he had only taken a step or two past the front door.

 _Ah._ It must have been awkward for Carrie, watching him just standing in place for what felt like a good few moments.

Small feelings of embarrassment kept Mo-Ri silent as he walked over to the crib, eyes locked on it, though said feelings began to fade with each step he took, new ones squeezing their way into his heart as he got closer and closer.

A pool of anticipation, mixed with hints of fear and ounces of worry — all swelling up in him bit by bit as the distance between him and the pale lavender crib closed. Before he'd known it, he was less than an inch away, looking down into crib. And then..

Happiness.

"She's cuter than you."

He paid no mind to the whisper. He knew Carrie was just teasing him, but that barely even mattered. Nothing did. Not when he saw the baby, bandages gently wrapped around her leg, sleeping without a care in the world. As she should have been. _Deserved_ to have been.

 _Not yet_ , Mo-Ri thought, fighting the slight warmth he began to feel in his eyes.

"You know, I've been wondering.." Carrie began, "..does she have a name?"

Mo-Ri froze.

No..she didn't. And her home was too far gone when...there was no way he would have been able to know what her name was. That was just the hard truth.

However, he didn't want to tell Carrie that. Not at the risk of them giving her a name. Mo-Ri wanted — no, _needed_ to be the one to name her. He was part of her family now, and he considered it his first act as such.

But with the matter of who named her addressed, what would it be?

Dan..Dan what?

 _Dan Mi-Ra?_

No. That was..there were too many memories there. He couldn't name her after one of his friends. He wasn't ready. He didn't even know when he would be — _or if_.

Mo-Ri hummed absentmindedly, a hand moving to his chin as his brows furrowed.

 _Dan Gi-Dae?_ No, that didn't feel right.

 _Dan Yeo-Seong?_ ..a little too on-the-nose.

 _..Dan Ja-Sig?_ ...still too on-the-nose.

 _Agh, why is thinking of a name so hard?!_ He desperately wanted to scratch his head in frustration and frown. Was he trying too hard to have it be symbolic? How the hell did parents do this?

"Mo-Ri?"

"Ah-An!"

Silence followed his quiet whisper of an outburst, Mo-Ri's eyes locked on the bars of the crib. Every second Carrie didn't say something left felt awful, since it'd just left Mo-Ri time to..well..

 _Ah-An? What does that even mean?!_ Would Carrie notice his reaction and figure out he'd blurted out the name without thinking? Would she figure out the baby had no name? He had to think — _act_ before she did. But he couldn't really _do_ anything. Not as a toddler. But then what—

"It's beautiful."

 _...What._

He finally lifted his gaze to the teenage girl, only to see a warm look directed at the sleeping child, pools of blue gazing at her lovingly. It surprised Mo-Ri, the boy almost taking a step back, though he managed to stop himself.

"Yeah..'Peaceful Flower'; it fits her perfectly." She looked to Mo-Ri, "I'm surprised that she has a name that old though. It's..well, ancient."

 _Wait, really?!_

"Ah, well, I — our parents, they, uh, read a lot.." Mo-Ri internally cursed his fumbles, though Carrie didn't seem to notice them. That, or she did, but she decided not to point it out.

Regardless, all Carrie did was hum at Mo-Ri's statement before returning her gaze to the baby..Ah-An.

 _"Peaceful Flower"..._ The name sat in his mind for a few moments, _That doesn't sound too bad. Plus, neither does Dan Ah-An._ He had to admit, it sounded somewhat nice to his ears. Whether that was just because the name felt right, or because hearing a name in his home tongue left him feeling just a little warm inside, Mo-Ri wasn't totally sure.

All he knew was that, to him at the very least, Dan Ah-An was a wonderful name for his baby sister.

"..So," Carrie broke a silence that'd begun to creep onto them, "I think we should probably leave for now. Let her get some rest, you know?" Mo-Ri's brows furrowed slightly in apprehension, "Plus.." Carrie quickly added.

Her smile was soft, but within it was a hint of excitement.

"I'd say it's about time I introduced you to everybody."

* * *

"...Hey, quick question."

"Shoot."

"Vale's the name of a Kingdom, right?"

"Yeah."

"And it's also the name of a city inside it?"

"..Yeah. What's your point?"

"I just.. _why_?"

A sigh was heard. It sounded a bit heavy.

"Look man..sometimes people make stupid mistakes."

"On naming your _Kingdom_?"

"People have made dumber decisions."

"I don't doubt that, but..I feel like there was a meeting for that — there _had_ to have been. And I'm not sure how I feel about the possibility that a group of government guys sat a table and just decided to name their Kingdom and a city inside it _the exact same thing_."

"Why do you care? We don't even live in Vale."

"I'm sympathetic."

"I'm not sure if sympathetic people verbally state they're sympathetic."

"I'm self-aware."

"I feel like that applies to that too though."

 _I'm not sure what I was expecting from them.._

Carrie wanted to let her palm slap against her face so badly, and she let it. Though a small tug on her pant leg made her lower her hand, one eye peeking between her finger and thumb to look downward.

"So they're in there?" Dan asked, his free hand pointing to the building in front of them. They stood just a few feet away from the wooden porch of what appeared to be — if one were to go by the odd scent that seemed like a mix between far too many peaches and pineapples, and along with just a hint of alcohol — a tavern.

Though, one look at the giant wooden letters near the top of the building would promptly disprove such a thought.

As if any owner of a tavern trying to start a serious business would call their establishment "Bean Bo _i_ z".

"Yeah," Carrie smiled with a sigh, "that's—"

 _..wait._

Carrie did a double take, confused eyes darting to the wooden letters above, her jaw dropping a little in realization. She sighed and lightly pressed her fingers on the bridge of her nose, as if mimicking the very slight pain she began to feel inside her own head.

"Are you okay?" She appreciated Dan's concern, she really did. But..

"Yeah, yeah, I'm..I'm good." She lied, "I just need to..sort something out." She said before sighing, her hand leaving her nose and falling to her side. They slowly walked up the porch steps, every other step creaking just a bit. The voices coming from the inside had quieted down the moment the first high-pitched creak made her and Dan's presences known.

They paused for a moment in front of the door before Carrie turned the knob and pushed it open, the mixed bag of scents hitting her, and also Dan, square in the face. She was less than pleased at the fact that the scent of alcohol had become just a smidge stronger — but, so had those of pineapples and peaches.

She still didn't like that the smell of booze was present at all, though.

The inside was fairly well lit, making it easier to see the painted green walls, as well as to tell that practically every surface was made of wood, save for a few large brown carpets. Several tables could be seen off to the side, each surrounded by a few chairs, along with a jukebox in the corner.

There were also a flight of stairs that led to a upper level, though those didn't concern Carrie at the moment.

Rather, what — or, _who_ — did was the pair of young boys, both the same age as her, sitting at the stools by the bar to her left, both of them looking at her with a surprised expression. Though it wasn't a moment later that a smile grew on their faces.

"What up, Care-Bear?" Asked one of the boys, sitting with his back turned to the bar, his elbows casually resting on it. A baseball cap sat on his head of shaggy black hair — hair which went all the way down to his nape. The baggy dark purple sweater he wore did little in revealing his somewhat fit, dark skinned physique, though his black shorts did a far better job there. Neither did his sanda—...wait, sandals?

 _You know what, nevermind. Chances are he'd just tease me about it for days if I asked_ , Carrie scowled internally.

 _..also, note to self, remember_ _to get payback later for him calling me "Care-Bear"._

"Bite me." She said, the dark skinned teen recoiling in fake shock, fingers from one hand resting together just above an O-shaped mouth. Her eyes rolled at the gesture before moving to the boy beside him, who'd risen a brow with a smirk as he watched them interact with one another.

He had slightly tanned skin, blue eyes, and light brown hair, which was largely hidden by the dirty white beanie on top of his head. The sky blue tank top he wore did more to show off his somewhat muscular body than his baggy black pants and black socks did.

..wait, why did the socks even come to mind?

 _Dammit, now I'm thinking about feet!_ She wasn't sure how she'd get revenge by the end of the day, but she'd be damned if she didn't.

"You know she'll clock you one of these days, right?" He asked, his tone one of amusement. The other teen made a loud sound of dismissal.

"As if she'd ever do that!" He said, "I'm her dark cho—ow!" He exclaimed when the other boy smacked the back of his head, "What was that for?!"

"Children are present, idiot." The other boy deadpanned.

Slowly, the cap-wearing teen's head moved down to Dan, who'd seemed to have been watching everything with a mixed look of amusement, confusion, and curiosity, if his small change in facial expression was anything to go by.

"..oh.." was all the teen said as he and Dan made direct eye-contact.

"Dan, I'd like you to meet two more of my friends." Carrie pointed to the still silent teen, "The dummy in the cap's name is Wally." Her finger shifted to the other boy, "And the smarter one over there's Al."

"Nice to meet you, Dan." Al waved with a grin, the blue haired boy smiling in response.

"Why's _he_ the smarter one?" Wally questioned with a risen brow before a smirk grew on his face, "After all, _I'm_ the one who noticed how beautiful you are."

"So you have good taste in women. Doesn't mean you're smart, though." Carrie's reply was almost immediate.

"..least I'm smarter than the guys who named the city of Vale.." He muttered while looking away, Carrie rolling her eyes while Al snorted.

"You're still hung up about that?" The beanie-wearing boy asked.

"Look, I just — there has to be a reason!" Wally exclaimed, hands thrown up in the air.

A small lightbulb went off in Carrie's mind..it may have flickered hesitantly though.

 _...I may or may not regret this.._

"I..think my sister knows a guy who could help with that. Got a _real_ hard-on for history." Carrie began, her voice hesitant, largely because she knew roughly how said guy could be. Descriptions such as "impossible to keep up with", "super smart spinach speedster", and "probably seeing life in constant bullet-time" were the first few that came to mind, verbatim quotes provided by Viola.

According to her sister, everybody at Beacon had their theories on his.. _energetic_ nature.

Viola chalked it up to simple, _strong_ passion. Plausible.

On the other hand, Peach, when asked about her theory, simply shrugged said "Probably drugs. _Lots_ of them."

Carrie didn't ask much for her theories since then.

And to think, that was what people thought when Oobleck _hadn't_ gotten a cup of coffee.

"Wait, really?!" Carrie _almost_ snorted at the stars that formed in Wally's eyes.

"Yeah, but we can talk about that later." Carrie ignored Wally's slight pout, "More importantly, I was planning on showing little Dan around town. To let him get to know everyone else."

"But—!" A glare from Carrie shut Wally up fast.

"..well, alright. Can't hurt to show the little guy around." Al began with a shrug, before shifting his attention to Dan "So, how old are you, my man? I'm guessing..two?" He asked while throwing up a peace sign with a smile.

Dan nodded, and with a hint of curiosity and excitement in his eyes, if Carrie's weren't deceiving her.

"Nice! Well, I just so happen to be four and a half!" Dan's expression showed more curiosity, Carrie smiling a bit at that, "Guess that puts us around the same age, bud! So I'll tell you what," Al bent toward Dan in his chair, a hand on his knee, "If either one of these old geezers bothers you, come and tell me. Okay?"

"Dude, you're 18." Wally deadpanned.

"Not according to the calender, I'm not!"

"Come to think of it, why is Leap Year even a thing?"

"I dunno. Something about the Sun, I think?"

"But we haven't even been into space, so how could we know?"

Was it just Carrie's imagination, or had Dan's hand flinched?

"No, no, it's something about the Earth's rotation around the Sun."

Carrie sighed as she tuned out their voices, a hand gently massaging her temples. Her eyes moved to observe Dan, only to narrow ever so slightly.

His expression seemed..the same as ever, really. But something felt slightly..off. Wrong. Out of place. It felt like there were several emotions going on at once, all hidden behind a mask.

 _"You need to keep an eye on him."_

With a blink, Carrie shook her head, as if trying to shake away the memory of her sister's words. It didn't work much.

* * *

 **I have returned!!**

 **So..it's been a while since I've posted a chapter of this (as well as my other stories).**

 **Partially because I recently started college..that's been fun.**

 **But also because I've kinda been binging a shit-ton of Worm fanfics. Like, a _lot_. Other fanfics from other series too, but Worm content's definitely been a big chunk of my recent reading material.**

 **As for the actual chapter, I do want to mention one more thing that made me take longer, and that would be Ah-An.**

 **Specifically, finding out what exactly her name meant — which I couldn't find, for the life of me. If anyone knows, please tell me. Also, please let me know if the way I did the scene where she's named comes off as offensive so I can apologize for that (just in case), because while I don't think it did, one can't ever be too sure.**

 **And for those wondering what the other names Mo-Ri thought of meant, here they are:**

 **\- yeoseong (** **여성** **): Female**

 **\- gidae (** **기대): Hope**

 **\- jasig (** **자식): Child**

 **(Granted, all those translations came from Google Translate, so they may not be _too_ accurate. Please call me out on it if that's the case.)**

 **And last but not least, comments!**

 ** _A Lost Nuffians: I mean. For the time being, I kind of_ have _to._**

 ** _fpinheiro96: Thank you, and here it is!_**

 ** _Bluzerker: Thank you for the support!_**

 ** _SuperAmazingGuy: Here!_**

 ** _Heaven Ascension Dio: Actually, including this one, there's at least 10 on_** ** _(which is still very much surprisingly lower than I expected GOH to have)_**

 ** _merendinoemiliano: Thank you! I've got some plans for things to come, and I hope you and the other readers enjoy!_**

 ** _olivia.rodriguez.927: Boom, here's more!_**

 ** _Neismdh4sns: Thank you!_**

 ** _Deuces_**


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